The present invention relates generally to window wipers used to clean vehicle windows and more particularly to wiper blades used in window wipers.
Window wipers used to clean vehicle windows tend to have difficulty adequately cleaning the windows under certain driving conditions. For example, in cold weather driving conditions, a hinge area of a wiper blade may fill with water and freeze. This ice prevents the hinge from properly allowing the wiping lip to flip at the reversal point in the wiper motion. This prevented flipping may cause the blade to chatter as it moves across the window, limiting the blade's ability to clear water and snow from the window.
In an attempt to address this concern, some have made the wiper blade entirely out of silicone or hydrophobic rubber, or have coated the entire wiper blade in these materials. However, silicone and other of the hydrophobic materials used have other drawbacks that make them less desirable when used to make the wiper blade.